Orders of magnitude (power)
Encyclopedia
This page lists examples of the power
in watt
s produced by various sources of energy. They are grouped by orders of magnitude, and each section covers three orders of magnitude, or a factor of one thousand.
The productive capacity of electrical generators operated by utility companies is often measured in MW. Few things can sustain the transfer or consumption of energy on this scale; some of these events or entities include: lightning strikes, naval craft (such as aircraft carrier
s and submarine
s), engineering hardware, and some scientific research equipment (such as supercolliders
and large laser
s).
For reference, about 10,000 100-watt lightbulbs or 5,000 computer systems would be needed to draw 1 megawatt. Also, 1 MW equals approximately 1360 horsepower
. Modern high-powered diesel-electric railroad locomotive
s typically have a peak power output of 3–5 MW, whereas a typical modern nuclear power plant
produces on the order of 500–2000 MW peak output.
Power (physics)
In physics, power is the rate at which energy is transferred, used, or transformed. For example, the rate at which a light bulb transforms electrical energy into heat and light is measured in watts—the more wattage, the more power, or equivalently the more electrical energy is used per unit...
in watt
Watt
The watt is a derived unit of power in the International System of Units , named after the Scottish engineer James Watt . The unit, defined as one joule per second, measures the rate of energy conversion.-Definition:...
s produced by various sources of energy. They are grouped by orders of magnitude, and each section covers three orders of magnitude, or a factor of one thousand.
zeptowatt (10−21 watt)
- ~10 zW – tech: approximate power of Galileo space probe's radio signal (when at JupiterJupiterJupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the largest planet within the Solar System. It is a gas giant with mass one-thousandth that of the Sun but is two and a half times the mass of all the other planets in our Solar System combined. Jupiter is classified as a gas giant along with Saturn,...
) as received on earth by a 70-meter DSNDeep Space NetworkThe Deep Space Network, or DSN, is a world-wide network of large antennas and communication facilities that supports interplanetary spacecraft missions. It also performs radio and radar astronomy observations for the exploration of the solar system and the universe, and supports selected...
antenna.
attowatt (10−18 watt)
- 1 aW – phys: approximate power scale at which operation of nanoelectromechanical systemsNanoelectromechanical systemsNanoelectromechanical systems are devices integrating electrical and mechanical functionality on the nanoscale. NEMS form the logical next miniaturization step from so-called microelectromechanical systems, or MEMS devices...
are overwhelmed by thermal fluctuations. - 100 aW – tech: the GPS signal strength measured at the surface of the Earth, roughly equivalent to viewing a 25-watt light bulb from a distance of 10,000 miles.
femtowatt (10−15 watt)
- 2.5 fW – tech: minimum discernible signal at the antenna terminal of a good FMFM broadcastingFM broadcasting is a broadcasting technology pioneered by Edwin Howard Armstrong which uses frequency modulation to provide high-fidelity sound over broadcast radio. The term "FM band" describes the "frequency band in which FM is used for broadcasting"...
radio receiver - 10 fW (−110 dBm) – tech: approximate lower limit of power reception on digital spread-spectrum cell phones
picowatt (10−12 watt)
- 1 pW (−90 dBm) – biomed: average power consumption of a human cellCell (biology)The cell is the basic structural and functional unit of all known living organisms. It is the smallest unit of life that is classified as a living thing, and is often called the building block of life. The Alberts text discusses how the "cellular building blocks" move to shape developing embryos....
- 18.4 pW – phys: power lost in the form of synchrotron radiation by a proton revolving in the Large Hadron ColliderLarge Hadron ColliderThe Large Hadron Collider is the world's largest and highest-energy particle accelerator. It is expected to address some of the most fundamental questions of physics, advancing the understanding of the deepest laws of nature....
at 7000 GeV - 150 pW – biomed: power entering a human eye from a 100-watt lamp 1 km away
nanowatt (10−9 watt)
- 2–15 nW – tech: power consumption of 8-bit PIC microcontrollerPIC microcontrollerPIC is a family of Harvard architecture microcontrollers made by Microchip Technology, derived from the PIC1650 originally developed by General Instrument's Microelectronics Division...
chips when in "sleep" mode
microwatt (10−6 watt)
- 1 µW (−30 dBm) – tech: approximate consumption of a quartzQuartzQuartz is the second-most-abundant mineral in the Earth's continental crust, after feldspar. It is made up of a continuous framework of SiO4 silicon–oxygen tetrahedra, with each oxygen being shared between two tetrahedra, giving an overall formula SiO2. There are many different varieties of quartz,...
wristwatch - 3 µW – astro: cosmic microwave background radiationCosmic microwave background radiationIn cosmology, cosmic microwave background radiation is thermal radiation filling the observable universe almost uniformly....
per square meter
milliwatt (10−3 watt)
- 5 mW – tech: laser in a CD-ROMCD-ROMA CD-ROM is a pre-pressed compact disc that contains data accessible to, but not writable by, a computer for data storage and music playback. The 1985 “Yellow Book” standard developed by Sony and Philips adapted the format to hold any form of binary data....
drive - 5–10 mW – tech: laser in a DVD playerDVD playerA DVD player is a device that plays discs produced under both the DVD-Video and DVD-Audio technical standards, two different and incompatible standards. These devices were invented in 1997 and continue to thrive...
- 70 mW – tech: antenna power in a typical consumer wireless routerWireless routerA Wireless router is a device that performs the functions of a router but also includes the functions of a wireless access point and a network switch. They are commonly used to allow access to the Internet or a computer network without the need for a cabled connection. It can function in a wired...
watt
- 4 W – tech: the power consumption of an incandescent night light
- 4 W – legal: maximum allowed carrier power output of a CBCitizens' band radioCitizens' Band radio is, in many countries, a system of short-distance radio communications between individuals on a selection of 40 channels within the 27-MHz band. Citizens' Band is distinct from the FRS, GMRS, MURS and amateur radio...
- 14 W – tech: the power consumption of a typical household compact fluorescent light bulb
- 20–40 W – biomed: approximate power consumption of the human brain
- 30–40 W – tech: the power consumption of a typical household fluorescent tube light
- 60 W – tech: the power consumption of a typical household incandescent light bulbIncandescent light bulbThe incandescent light bulb, incandescent lamp or incandescent light globe makes light by heating a metal filament wire to a high temperature until it glows. The hot filament is protected from air by a glass bulb that is filled with inert gas or evacuated. In a halogen lamp, a chemical process...
- 100 W – biomed: approximate basal metabolic rateBasal metabolic rateBasal Metabolic Rate , and the closely related resting metabolic rate , is the amount of daily energy expended by humans and other animals at rest. Rest is defined as existing in a neutrally temperate environment while in the post-absorptive state...
of an adult human body - 120 W – tech: power output of 1 m2 solar panelPhotovoltaic moduleA solar panel is a packaged, connected assembly of solar cells, also known as photovoltaic cells...
in full sunlightSolar powerSolar energy, radiant light and heat from the sun, has been harnessed by humans since ancient times using a range of ever-evolving technologies. Solar radiation, along with secondary solar-powered resources such as wind and wave power, hydroelectricity and biomass, account for most of the available...
(approx. 12% efficiency), at sea level - 130 W – tech: peak power consumption of a Pentium 4Pentium 4Pentium 4 was a line of single-core desktop and laptop central processing units , introduced by Intel on November 20, 2000 and shipped through August 8, 2008. They had a 7th-generation x86 microarchitecture, called NetBurst, which was the company's first all-new design since the introduction of the...
CPU - 290 W – units: approximately 1000 BTU/hour
- 300–400 W – tech: PCPersonal computerA personal computer is any general-purpose computer whose size, capabilities, and original sales price make it useful for individuals, and which is intended to be operated directly by an end-user with no intervening computer operator...
GPU Nvidia Geforce Fermi 480GeForce 400 SeriesThe GeForce 400 Series is the 11th generation of Nvidia's GeForce graphics processing units. The series was originally slated for production in November 2009, but, after a number of delays, launched on March 26, 2010 with availability following in April 2010....
peak power consumption - 400 W – tech: legal limit of power output of an amateur radioAmateur radioAmateur radio is the use of designated radio frequency spectrum for purposes of private recreation, non-commercial exchange of messages, wireless experimentation, self-training, and emergency communication...
station in the United Kingdom - 500 W – biomed: power output (useful work plus heat) of a person working hard physically
- 745.7 W – units: 1 horsepowerHorsepowerHorsepower is the name of several units of measurement of power. The most common definitions equal between 735.5 and 750 watts.Horsepower was originally defined to compare the output of steam engines with the power of draft horses in continuous operation. The unit was widely adopted to measure the...
- 750 W – astro: approximately the amount of sunshine falling on a square metre of the Earth's surface on a clear day in March for northern temperate latitudes
- 909 W – biomed: peak output power of a healthy human (nonathlete) during a 30-second cycle sprint at 30.1 degree Celsius.
kilowatt (103 watts)
- 1 kW to 3 kW – tech: heat output of a domestic electric kettleKettleA kettle, sometimes called a tea kettle or teakettle, is a small kitchen appliance used for boiling water. Kettles can be heated either by placing on a stove, or by their own electric heating element.- Stovetop kettles :...
- 1.1 kW – tech: power of a microwave ovenMicrowave ovenA microwave oven is a kitchen appliance that heats food by dielectric heating, using microwave radiation to heat polarized molecules within the food...
- 1.366 kW – astro: power per square metre received from the SunSunThe Sun is the star at the center of the Solar System. It is almost perfectly spherical and consists of hot plasma interwoven with magnetic fields...
at the Earth's orbit - 1.5 kW – tech: legal limit of power output of an amateur radioAmateur radioAmateur radio is the use of designated radio frequency spectrum for purposes of private recreation, non-commercial exchange of messages, wireless experimentation, self-training, and emergency communication...
station in the United States - up to 2 kW – biomed: approximate short-time power output of sprinting professional cyclists
- 2.4 kW (21,283 kWh/year) – geo: average power consumption per person worldwide in 2008
- 3.3–6.6 kW – eco: average photosynthetic power output per square kilometer of ocean
- 3.6 kW – tech: synchrotron radiationSynchrotron radiationThe electromagnetic radiation emitted when charged particles are accelerated radially is called synchrotron radiation. It is produced in synchrotrons using bending magnets, undulators and/or wigglers...
power lost per ring in the Large Hadron ColliderLarge Hadron ColliderThe Large Hadron Collider is the world's largest and highest-energy particle accelerator. It is expected to address some of the most fundamental questions of physics, advancing the understanding of the deepest laws of nature....
at 7000 GeV - 10 kW to 50 kW – tech: nominal powerNominal powerNominal power is a measurement of a mediumwave radio station's output used in the United States. AM broadcasters are licensed by the Federal Communications Commission to operate at a specific nominal power, which may be different from the transmitter power output.* For non-directional stations,...
of clear channel AM - 10.0 kW (87,216 kWh/year) – average power consumption per person in the United States in 2008
- 16–32 kW – eco: average photosynthetic power output per square kilometer of landLandformA landform or physical feature in the earth sciences and geology sub-fields, comprises a geomorphological unit, and is largely defined by its surface form and location in the landscape, as part of the terrain, and as such, is typically an element of topography...
- 30 kW – power generated by the four motors of GEN H-4 one-man helicopter
- 40 kW to 200 kW – tech: approximate range of power output of typical automobiles
- 50 kW to 100 kW – tech: highest allowed ERPEffective radiated powerIn radio telecommunications, effective radiated power or equivalent radiated power is a standardized theoretical measurement of radio frequency energy using the SI unit watts, and is determined by subtracting system losses and adding system gains...
for an FM band radio station in the United States - 167 kW – tech: power consumption of UNIVAC 1 computer
- 250 kW to 800 kW – tech: approximate range of power output of 'supercarSupercarSupercar is a term used most often to describe an expensive high end car. It has been defined specifically as "a very expensive, fast or powerful car"...
s' - 450 kW – tech: approximate maximum power output of a large 18-wheeler truck engine
- 800 kW – tech: approximate average power output of a small coal power plant
megawatt (106 watts)
- 1.3 MW – tech: power output of P-51 MustangP-51 MustangThe North American Aviation P-51 Mustang was an American long-range, single-seat fighter and fighter-bomber used during World War II, the Korean War and in several other conflicts...
fighter aircraft - 1.5 MW – tech: peak power output of GE's standard wind turbine
- 2.4 MW – tech: peak power output of a Princess Coronation class steam locomotive (approx 3.3K EDHP on test) (1937)
- 2.5 MW – biomed: peak power output of a blue whaleBlue WhaleThe blue whale is a marine mammal belonging to the suborder of baleen whales . At in length and or more in weight, it is the largest known animal to have ever existed....
- 3 MW – tech: mechanical power output of a diesel locomotiveLocomotiveA locomotive is a railway vehicle that provides the motive power for a train. The word originates from the Latin loco – "from a place", ablative of locus, "place" + Medieval Latin motivus, "causing motion", and is a shortened form of the term locomotive engine, first used in the early 19th...
- 10 MW – tech: highest ERPEffective radiated powerIn radio telecommunications, effective radiated power or equivalent radiated power is a standardized theoretical measurement of radio frequency energy using the SI unit watts, and is determined by subtracting system losses and adding system gains...
allowed for an UHF television station - 10.3 MW – geo: electrical power output of TogoTogoTogo, officially the Togolese Republic , is a country in West Africa bordered by Ghana to the west, Benin to the east and Burkina Faso to the north. It extends south to the Gulf of Guinea, on which the capital Lomé is located. Togo covers an area of approximately with a population of approximately...
- 12.2 MW – tech: approx power available to a EurostarEurostarEurostar is a high-speed railway service connecting London with Paris and Brussels. All its trains traverse the Channel Tunnel between England and France, owned and operated separately by Eurotunnel....
20-carriage train - 16 MW – tech: rate at which a typical gasoline pumpFuel dispenserA fuel dispenser is a machine at a filling station that is used to pump gasoline, diesel, CNG, CGH2, HCNG, LPG, LH2, ethanol fuel, biofuels like biodiesel, kerosene, or other types of fuel into vehicles...
transfers chemical energy to a vehicle - 17 to 80 MW – tech: approximate maximum power output of a Nd:YAG laser used in Particle Image VelocimetryParticle image velocimetryParticle image velocimetry is an optical method of flow visualization used in education and research. It is used to obtain instantaneous velocity measurements and related properties in fluids...
(100mJ over 6ns to 400mJ over 5ns, both at 532 nm) - 26 MW – tech: peak power output of the reactor of a Los Angeles-class nuclear submarine
- 75 MW – tech: maximum power output of one GE90 jet engine as installed on the Boeing 777
- 140 MW – tech: average power consumption of a Boeing 747Boeing 747The Boeing 747 is a wide-body commercial airliner and cargo transport, often referred to by its original nickname, Jumbo Jet, or Queen of the Skies. It is among the world's most recognizable aircraft, and was the first wide-body ever produced...
passenger aircraft - 190 MW – tech: peak power output of a Nimitz-class aircraft carrier
- 900 MW – tech: electric power output of a CANDU nuclear reactor
- 959 MW – geo: average electrical power consumption of ZimbabweZimbabweZimbabwe is a landlocked country located in the southern part of the African continent, between the Zambezi and Limpopo rivers. It is bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the southwest, Zambia and a tip of Namibia to the northwest and Mozambique to the east. Zimbabwe has three...
in 1998
The productive capacity of electrical generators operated by utility companies is often measured in MW. Few things can sustain the transfer or consumption of energy on this scale; some of these events or entities include: lightning strikes, naval craft (such as aircraft carrier
Aircraft carrier
An aircraft carrier is a warship designed with a primary mission of deploying and recovering aircraft, acting as a seagoing airbase. Aircraft carriers thus allow a naval force to project air power worldwide without having to depend on local bases for staging aircraft operations...
s and submarine
Submarine
A submarine is a watercraft capable of independent operation below the surface of the water. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability...
s), engineering hardware, and some scientific research equipment (such as supercolliders
Large Hadron Collider
The Large Hadron Collider is the world's largest and highest-energy particle accelerator. It is expected to address some of the most fundamental questions of physics, advancing the understanding of the deepest laws of nature....
and large laser
Laser
A laser is a device that emits light through a process of optical amplification based on the stimulated emission of photons. The term "laser" originated as an acronym for Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation...
s).
For reference, about 10,000 100-watt lightbulbs or 5,000 computer systems would be needed to draw 1 megawatt. Also, 1 MW equals approximately 1360 horsepower
Horsepower
Horsepower is the name of several units of measurement of power. The most common definitions equal between 735.5 and 750 watts.Horsepower was originally defined to compare the output of steam engines with the power of draft horses in continuous operation. The unit was widely adopted to measure the...
. Modern high-powered diesel-electric railroad locomotive
Locomotive
A locomotive is a railway vehicle that provides the motive power for a train. The word originates from the Latin loco – "from a place", ablative of locus, "place" + Medieval Latin motivus, "causing motion", and is a shortened form of the term locomotive engine, first used in the early 19th...
s typically have a peak power output of 3–5 MW, whereas a typical modern nuclear power plant
Nuclear power plant
A nuclear power plant is a thermal power station in which the heat source is one or more nuclear reactors. As in a conventional thermal power station the heat is used to generate steam which drives a steam turbine connected to a generator which produces electricity.Nuclear power plants are usually...
produces on the order of 500–2000 MW peak output.
gigawatt (109 watts)
- 1.3 GW – tech: electric power output of Manitoba HydroManitoba HydroManitoba Hydro is the electric power and natural gas utility in the province of Manitoba, Canada. Founded in 1961, it is a provincial Crown Corporation, governed by the Manitoba Hydro-Electric Board and the Manitoba Hydro Act. Today the company operates 15 interconnected generating stations. It has...
Limestone hydroelectric generating station
- 2.074 GW – tech: peak power generation of Hoover DamHoover DamHoover Dam, once known as Boulder Dam, is a concrete arch-gravity dam in the Black Canyon of the Colorado River, on the border between the US states of Arizona and Nevada. It was constructed between 1931 and 1936 during the Great Depression and was dedicated on September 30, 1935, by President...
- 2.1 GW – tech: peak power generation of Aswan DamAswan DamThe Aswan Dam is an embankment dam situated across the Nile River in Aswan, Egypt. Since the 1950s, the name commonly refers to the High Dam, which is larger and newer than the Aswan Low Dam, which was first completed in 1902...
- 4.116 GW – tech: installed capacity of Kendal Power StationKendal Power Station-Power generation:Power generation is done by six 686 MW units for a total installed capacity of 4,116 MW. Turbine Maximum Continuous Rating is 16.67%- See also :* Eskom* Fossil-fuel power plant* List of power stations in South Africa-External links:...
, the world's largest coal-fired power plantFossil fuel power plantA fossil-fuel power station is a power station that burns fossil fuels such as coal, natural gas or petroleum to produce electricity. Central station fossil-fuel power plants are designed on a large scale for continuous operation...
. - 8.21 GW – tech: capacity of the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa Nuclear Power PlantKashiwazaki-Kariwa Nuclear Power PlantThe is a large, modern nuclear power plant on a 4.2-square-kilometer site including land in the towns of Kashiwazaki and Kariwa in Niigata Prefecture, Japan on the coast of the Sea of Japan, from where it gets cooling water...
, the world's largest nuclear power plantNuclear powerNuclear power is the use of sustained nuclear fission to generate heat and electricity. Nuclear power plants provide about 6% of the world's energy and 13–14% of the world's electricity, with the U.S., France, and Japan together accounting for about 50% of nuclear generated electricity...
. - 12.6 GW – tech: electrical power generation of the Itaipu Dam
- 12.7 GW – geo: average electrical power consumption of NorwayNorwayNorway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
in 1998 - 18.3 GW – tech: current electrical power generation of the Three Gorges DamThree Gorges DamThe Three Gorges Dam is a hydroelectric dam that spans the Yangtze River by the town of Sandouping, located in the Yiling District of Yichang, in Hubei province, China...
, the world's largest hydroelectric power plant of any type. - 55 GW – tech peak daily electrical power consumption of Great Britain in November 2008.
- 74 GW – tech: total installed wind turbine capacityWind powerWind power is the conversion of wind energy into a useful form of energy, such as using wind turbines to make electricity, windmills for mechanical power, windpumps for water pumping or drainage, or sails to propel ships....
at end of 2006. - 190 GW – tech: average power consumption of the first stage of the Saturn VSaturn VThe Saturn V was an American human-rated expendable rocket used by NASA's Apollo and Skylab programs from 1967 until 1973. A multistage liquid-fueled launch vehicle, NASA launched 13 Saturn Vs from the Kennedy Space Center, Florida with no loss of crew or payload...
rocket
terawatt (1012 watts)
- 2 TW – astro: approximate power generated between the surfaces of Jupiter and its moon IoIo (moon)Io ) is the innermost of the four Galilean moons of the planet Jupiter and, with a diameter of , the fourth-largest moon in the Solar System. It was named after the mythological character of Io, a priestess of Hera who became one of the lovers of Zeus....
due to Jupiter's tremendous magnetic field. - 3.34 TW – geo: average total (gas, electricity, etc.) power consumption of the US in 2005
- 16 TW – geo: average total power consumption of the human world in 2010
- 44 TW – geo: average total heat fluxHeat fluxHeat flux or thermal flux is the rate of heat energy transfer through a given surface. The SI derived unit of heat rate is joule per second, or watt. Heat flux is the heat rate per unit area. In SI units, heat flux is measured in W/m2]. Heat rate is a scalar quantity, while heat flux is a vectorial...
from Earth's interior - 75 TW – eco: global net primary production (= biomassBiomassBiomass, as a renewable energy source, is biological material from living, or recently living organisms. As an energy source, biomass can either be used directly, or converted into other energy products such as biofuel....
production) via photosynthesisPhotosynthesisPhotosynthesis is a chemical process that converts carbon dioxide into organic compounds, especially sugars, using the energy from sunlight. Photosynthesis occurs in plants, algae, and many species of bacteria, but not in archaea. Photosynthetic organisms are called photoautotrophs, since they can... - 50 to 200 TW – weather: rate of heat energy release by a hurricane
- 290 TW – tech: the power the Z machineZ machineThe Z machine is the largest X-ray generator in the world and is designed to test materials in conditions of extreme temperature and pressure. Operated by Sandia National Laboratories, it gathers data to aid in computer modeling of nuclear weapons...
reaches in 1 billionth of a second when it is fired - 300 TW – tech: power reached by the extremely high-power Hercules laserLaserA laser is a device that emits light through a process of optical amplification based on the stimulated emission of photons. The term "laser" originated as an acronym for Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation...
from the University of MichiganUniversity of MichiganThe University of Michigan is a public research university located in Ann Arbor, Michigan in the United States. It is the state's oldest university and the flagship campus of the University of Michigan...
.
petawatt (1015 watts)
- 1.1 PW – tech: world's most powerful laserLaserA laser is a device that emits light through a process of optical amplification based on the stimulated emission of photons. The term "laser" originated as an acronym for Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation...
pulses by laser still in operation (claimed on March 31, 2008 by Texas Center for High Intensity Laser Science at The University of Texas at Austin). - 1.25 PW – tech: world's most powerful laserLaserA laser is a device that emits light through a process of optical amplification based on the stimulated emission of photons. The term "laser" originated as an acronym for Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation...
pulses (claimed on May 23, 1996 by Lawrence Livermore Laboratory). - 1.4 PW – geo: estimated heat flux transported by the Gulf StreamGulf StreamThe Gulf Stream, together with its northern extension towards Europe, the North Atlantic Drift, is a powerful, warm, and swift Atlantic ocean current that originates at the tip of Florida, and follows the eastern coastlines of the United States and Newfoundland before crossing the Atlantic Ocean...
. - 4 PW – geo: estimated total heat flux transported by EarthEarthEarth is the third planet from the Sun, and the densest and fifth-largest of the eight planets in the Solar System. It is also the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial planets...
's atmosphereEarth's atmosphereThe atmosphere of Earth is a layer of gases surrounding the planet Earth that is retained by Earth's gravity. The atmosphere protects life on Earth by absorbing ultraviolet solar radiation, warming the surface through heat retention , and reducing temperature extremes between day and night...
and oceans away from the equatorEquatorAn equator is the intersection of a sphere's surface with the plane perpendicular to the sphere's axis of rotation and containing the sphere's center of mass....
towards the poles. - 10–100 PW geo: estimated total power output of a Type-I civilization on the Kardashev scaleKardashev scaleThe Kardashev scale is a method of measuring an advanced civilization's level of technological advancement. The scale is only theoretical and in terms of an actual civilization highly speculative; however, it puts energy consumption of an entire civilization in a cosmic perspective. It was first...
. - 174.0 PW – astro: total power received by EarthEarthEarth is the third planet from the Sun, and the densest and fifth-largest of the eight planets in the Solar System. It is also the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial planets...
from the SunSunThe Sun is the star at the center of the Solar System. It is almost perfectly spherical and consists of hot plasma interwoven with magnetic fields...
exawatt (1018 watts)
- 100 EW - tech: Extreme Light InfrastructureExtreme Light InfrastructureThe Extreme Light Infrastructure is a proposed high energy laser research facility of the European Union. The facility will host an exawatt-class laser, that will enable scientists, through relativistic compression, to produce intensities of 1023 W/cm2...
laser
zettawatt (1021 watts)
- 135 ZW – astro: approximate luminosityLuminosityLuminosity is a measurement of brightness.-In photometry and color imaging:In photometry, luminosity is sometimes incorrectly used to refer to luminance, which is the density of luminous intensity in a given direction. The SI unit for luminance is candela per square metre.The luminosity function...
of Wolf 359
yottawatt (1024 watts)
- 10-100 YW – geo: estimated total power output of a Type-II civilization on the Kardashev scaleKardashev scaleThe Kardashev scale is a method of measuring an advanced civilization's level of technological advancement. The scale is only theoretical and in terms of an actual civilization highly speculative; however, it puts energy consumption of an entire civilization in a cosmic perspective. It was first...
. - 384.6 YW – astro: luminosityLuminosityLuminosity is a measurement of brightness.-In photometry and color imaging:In photometry, luminosity is sometimes incorrectly used to refer to luminance, which is the density of luminous intensity in a given direction. The SI unit for luminance is candela per square metre.The luminosity function...
of the SunSunThe Sun is the star at the center of the Solar System. It is almost perfectly spherical and consists of hot plasma interwoven with magnetic fields...
Greater than one thousand yottawatts
- 3.31 × 1031W – astro: approximate luminosityLuminosityLuminosity is a measurement of brightness.-In photometry and color imaging:In photometry, luminosity is sometimes incorrectly used to refer to luminance, which is the density of luminous intensity in a given direction. The SI unit for luminance is candela per square metre.The luminosity function...
of Beta CentauriBeta CentauriBeta Centauri , also known as Hadar or Agena, is the second brightest star in the constellation Centaurus and the tenth brightest star in the night sky. Beta Centauri is a B1 III blue-white giant star that the astrometric Hipparcos satellite calculates as about 161 parsecs or 525 light-years from... - 1.23 × 1032W – astro: approximate luminosityLuminosityLuminosity is a measurement of brightness.-In photometry and color imaging:In photometry, luminosity is sometimes incorrectly used to refer to luminance, which is the density of luminous intensity in a given direction. The SI unit for luminance is candela per square metre.The luminosity function...
of DenebDenebDeneb is the brightest star in the constellation Cygnus and one of the vertices of the Summer Triangle. It is the 19th brightest star in the night sky, with an apparent magnitude of 1.25. A blue-white supergiant, Deneb is also one of the most luminous nearby stars... - 5 × 1036W – astro: approximate luminosityLuminosityLuminosity is a measurement of brightness.-In photometry and color imaging:In photometry, luminosity is sometimes incorrectly used to refer to luminance, which is the density of luminous intensity in a given direction. The SI unit for luminance is candela per square metre.The luminosity function...
of the Milky WayMilky WayThe Milky Way is the galaxy that contains the Solar System. This name derives from its appearance as a dim un-resolved "milky" glowing band arching across the night sky...
galaxy. - 1 × 1040W – astro: approximate luminosityLuminosityLuminosity is a measurement of brightness.-In photometry and color imaging:In photometry, luminosity is sometimes incorrectly used to refer to luminance, which is the density of luminous intensity in a given direction. The SI unit for luminance is candela per square metre.The luminosity function...
of a quasarQuasarA quasi-stellar radio source is a very energetic and distant active galactic nucleus. Quasars are extremely luminous and were first identified as being high redshift sources of electromagnetic energy, including radio waves and visible light, that were point-like, similar to stars, rather than... - 1 × 1042W – astro: approximate luminosityLuminosityLuminosity is a measurement of brightness.-In photometry and color imaging:In photometry, luminosity is sometimes incorrectly used to refer to luminance, which is the density of luminous intensity in a given direction. The SI unit for luminance is candela per square metre.The luminosity function...
of the Local Supercluster - 1 × 1045W – astro: approximate luminosityLuminosityLuminosity is a measurement of brightness.-In photometry and color imaging:In photometry, luminosity is sometimes incorrectly used to refer to luminance, which is the density of luminous intensity in a given direction. The SI unit for luminance is candela per square metre.The luminosity function...
of a gamma-ray burst - 2 × 1049W – astro: approximate total luminosityLuminosityLuminosity is a measurement of brightness.-In photometry and color imaging:In photometry, luminosity is sometimes incorrectly used to refer to luminance, which is the density of luminous intensity in a given direction. The SI unit for luminance is candela per square metre.The luminosity function...
of all the starStarA star is a massive, luminous sphere of plasma held together by gravity. At the end of its lifetime, a star can also contain a proportion of degenerate matter. The nearest star to Earth is the Sun, which is the source of most of the energy on Earth...
s in the observable universeObservable universeIn Big Bang cosmology, the observable universe consists of the galaxies and other matter that we can in principle observe from Earth in the present day, because light from those objects has had time to reach us since the beginning of the cosmological expansion... - 3.63 × 1052W – phys: The Planck powerPlanck powerThe Planck energy divided by the Planck time is the Planck power, equal to about 3.62831 × 1052 W. This is an extremely large unit; even gamma-ray bursts, the most luminous phenomena known, have output on the order of 1 × 1045 W, less than one ten-millionth of the Planck power.In terms of the...
, the basic unit of power in the Planck unitsPlanck unitsIn physics, Planck units are physical units of measurement defined exclusively in terms of five universal physical constants listed below, in such a manner that these five physical constants take on the numerical value of 1 when expressed in terms of these units. Planck units elegantly simplify...
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See also
- Orders of magnitude (voltage)Orders of magnitude (voltage)To help compare different orders of magnitude, the following list describes various voltage levels....
- World energy resources and consumptionWorld energy resources and consumption]World energy consumption in 2010: over 5% growthEnergy markets have combined crisis recovery and strong industry dynamism. Energy consumption in the G20 soared by more than 5% in 2010, after the slight decrease of 2009. This strong increase is the result of two converging trends...
- International System of Units (SI)SiSi, si, or SI may refer to :- Measurement, mathematics and science :* International System of Units , the modern international standard version of the metric system...
- SI prefixSI prefixThe International System of Units specifies a set of unit prefixes known as SI prefixes or metric prefixes. An SI prefix is a name that precedes a basic unit of measure to indicate a decadic multiple or fraction of the unit. Each prefix has a unique symbol that is prepended to the unit symbol...